[summary] Janiben - 2013.02.27 - Yoshida Saori
This week's guest is three-time Olympic gold medalist, Yoshida Saori.
This time the faces that Yasu, Maru and Ohkura make before the show starts are appropriate: their guest is a wrestler.
Before they can start talking to her, Yoko says, "Sorry, can I say something? From the start, Nishikido-san looks like he's ready to fight." Ryo poses and says that it's because he never knows when he might be attacked. From the side, Ohkura says, "Nobody's going to attack you" and Yoko asks, "Why are you sort of raring to go?"
They take a look at Saori's three gold medals: Athens, Beijing and her most recent, London. Yasu asks her if they're heavy and she offers to let him wear one, so Yasu models her London 2012 gold medal.
Yasu sits up straight and Hina asks him how it feels to wear the medal to which Yasu replies, "Uh, I don't know. But it's awesome. It supports me." Ohkura asks him, "Even though you're just wearing it?" Yoko remarks that Yasu is easily influenced.
Hina asks Saori who her type is but he says, "We know that your type is (NEWS's) Massu. Hina and Yoko remind her that they were there in the studio when she said on TV that she likes Massu. Yoko says that it was just him and Hina and on a VTR, Saori said that she supports a certain Jyannis. Hina and Yoko thought it would be one of them but she ended up saying Massu's name and they felt embarrassed because they got ahead of themselves.
From the back, Subaru says, "Isn't it because we aren't thought of as Jyannis!?"
Saori says that in Kanjani 8, Maru is funny and the good-looking one is Ryo. Ryo smiles really widely and poses like a wrestler to which Hina says, "You don't have to fight!! Why are trying to fight?" Yoko asks her, "But isn't he different from your type (Massu)?" She tries to explain that when Massu looks at her (and then they all look at her but she asks them not to look at her). Subaru says, "She became a "woman" all of a sudden!" Saori explains that when she looks in his eyes and talks to him, she sort of falls for him." Hina suggests that Ryo come up to the front and of course, he's all "Why, whyyy?" but still sits in front. Maru and Hina both tell Ryo, "You can't fight her."
Ryo looks at her but she's so embarrassed that she tells him not to look at her so Hina suggests that she view Ryo as a sparring partner but she says that it's impossible and apologizes.
Segment 1 - K8 can/not agree with…
"Everyday… I have to take an afternoon nap!"
Maru, Ryo and Ohkura agree while the rest of them disagree.
Yoko says, "Seriously, Ohkura can sleep anywhere." Ohkura confirms this and Yoko further explains, "During filming, after he's done, he'll really go and sleep in the dressing room."
According to Ohkura, sleeping during the night isn't enough for him and he says it in really thick Kansai-ben, so Yoko makes fun of him for that.
Saori's schedule looks like this:
midnight to 6AM: sleep
6AM-8AM: morning practice
8AM: meal time
from 10AM: cleaning, laundry
10AM-5PM: afternoon nap
5PM-8PM: practice
8PM-9PM: meal time
9PM-midnight: free time
Ohkura immediately says, "Your afternoon nap time is amazing!" They all agree that she naps for quite a long time, but she explains that she starts early and practices really hard from that time, so a long nap is necessary. They ask her what she does in her free time and she says that she does things like laundry to which they all laugh because they misunderstand, thinking that she really just likes doing laundry. However, Saori says that she has to wash the clothes she wore from practice because they get dirty. In more detail, her training schedule really is intense: running and weight training in the morning, ten rounds up and down 4 flights of stairs, piggybacking and bunny-hopping, and finally, mat practice in the afternoon. She says that since there's so much intense training, if she doesn't nap, she won't have energy for afternoon practice.
Ohkura: I don't do anything (that requires me to sleep for so long)!
Hina points at Ohkura and says, "It's not like Ohkura's worn out (from training hard)" and the man in question says, "I don't do anything!"
Hina asks her if she napped even before big events like world championships to which Saori says that she does if she has time because it's actually best for her to sleep more.
Ohkura says, "We sleep too. Before concerts." Subaru says, "That's just you!" Hina adds that Ohkura's trying to cover his own butt by saying it first because the truth is, he's the only one who naps before concerts. Ohkura asks the other guys, "Don't you sleep (before concerts)?" Hina says, "You're pretty much the only one who sleeps." Ohkura says, "Ah… is that right. I thought you guys were the same as me." Subaru says, "We're not" twice to really drive the point home that Ohkura sleeps an awful lot.
From 2001, Saori had won 119 matches, all without a single loss. She says that in 2008, she lost her first match to a foreigner and she cried a lot. From that point on, she decided that she had to know more about herself (as an athlete) in order to become stronger and Hina laughs when she says the latter part because he thinks that she's already pretty strong.
Saori has won ten consecutive World Championships and if they include the Olympics, that makes thirteen.
On November 7, 2012, for her excellent work as a representative athlete of Japan, she was awarded a gold pearl and diamond necklace from Mikimoto (the world's leading pearl company) that Saori explains is worth about 1,000,000 yen (a bit over $11,000). Yoko asks her, "How many times have people said '(you're) awesome!' to you?"
Saori: People say "sugoi" even when they look at my face. (Yoko's laugh is so cute here)
Saori says that people say 'awesome' even when they just look at her face.
Hina asks her if she's got famous athlete friends/acquaintences from other countries and she says that she doesn't, but she did ask Tyson Gay (US) and Usain Bolt (Jamaica) to take pictures with her. Yoko asks her about the Olympic athlete village and if it's true that they have all-you-can-eat there to which Saori says that they do and they even have McDonald's there. For Saori, McDonald's was her favourite and along with Uchimura-kun from gymnastics, those two ate McDonald's every day.
Saori is planning to go to the 2016 Olympic games in Rio and if she can go, she'll be the first Japanese person to go to four Olympic games in a row. Yoko asks her, "If you win gold there again, what'll you do to your coach?" He asks this because at London, when she won, her coach came over to hug her but she flipped him over and put him in a headlock. Saori explains that she did it out of instinct and she even tried to finish him off until she heard him kind of cry out in pain. For Saori, her habit is to even finish off training partners during practice, so her instinct really goes from beginning to end.
Ohkura asks her, "Will you hit someone if they hug you from behind? Like, (putting hands over her eyes) 'guess who?'" She says that if it's a suspicious person, then yes.
"For a girl to drink, a cute beverage is…. Cassis Orange!!"
Hina and Ryo agree while the rest of them disagree. Hina says that she only recently started drinking and Cassis Orange has become her favourite.
Yoko even talks about an incident when she went to a high-class sushi restaurant and ordered a Cassis Orange (sushi places don't usually serve cocktails) and Hina says that one of the restaurant employees ran over to the bar next door to get the drink for her. Ohkura asks her if she gets drunk and she says not really, so Yoko asks her about how much can she drink. Saori says, "I can drink quite a lot of Cassis Orange. I love Cassis Orange" and they all laugh like crazy saying that she's cute. Hina asks her if she has people she goes out to drink with and she says that she hangs out with Sawa-san (Nadeshiko Japan team captain) a lot and they hang out with other ladies.
Ohkura asks her what kind of things they talk about and Saori says, "We only talk about love" and they're all amazed. She talks about herself and asks the other ladies for their advice.
Yoko laughed so hard at this that Saori leaned over to tell him that he's laughing too much.
Sawa-san tells Saori that she pushes too hard when it comes to guys and Saori confirms this by telling the guys that she'll say "I like you" to a guy quite easily. Even though Sawa-san tells her that it's important to be diplomatic with men, she can't do it.
The show has a list of things that Sawa-san has warned Saori about:
• You like someone right away too often!
Saori says that if she gets along with a guy really well, she'll start liking him. Hina laughs and Yoko thinks that it's cute, and Saori says that she likes cool guys. They ask her what type she means by that and she explains that she likes cool guys who are funny, will be with her, and are kind. Hina asks her what type of kindness she means and she says, "Eh… someone who'll be kind to me is good." Maru says that her answer is like what an elementary school kid would say and Hina guesses that she means a guy who is good about physical contact.
She says that he's right, so Hina gets Maru to come up to the front to role-play and Yoko warns her that Maru is a master of physical touch.
Conversation
M: Today was fun, huh?
S: Ahh, just this is already embarrassing.
M: Really? It's okay. It's totally okay.
[Maru puts his arm around her shoulders]
(Subaru: There (it is)
Hina: He's sensitive (to the situation)
Subaru: That was fast
Yasu: Fast!
Yoko: He's seriously attuned to this)
M: Come on, look. A lot of people are looking at us.
S: I get it already
(Yoko: Uh oh, they've entered an endless maze)
M: Is it okay?
S: It's okay.
M: Really? In front of a group of people like this?
Hina: Okay, enough already! What the heck are you doing (asking her) is this okay?
M: For women, "That's enough" (もういいです) means "A little bit more, please." (もうちょっとちょうだい)
H: No, you're wrong. That's enough.
• You appeal too much!
Saori says that she doesn't do it in person often, but through texts, she'll send messages like "I like you" or "You're cool." Ohkura asks (I'm assuming the other members), "Isn't a message saying 'you're cool' strange?" and Yasu adds that it's because even in normal conversations, people don't say that. Saori clarifies that she sends those kinds of texts after meeting with the guy (although that doesn't help her situation) and she'll send a message like, "Today was fun. You were cool. I like you." The members are all really surprised and Hina says, "There's nothing in between ("today was fun" and praising the guy part), but you want to convey your feelings to him." Saori says, "If it (her feelings) get across, maybe something will happen." Hina says that she thinks like a junior high school student so she asks him, "What would you do if you got a text like that? Would you be happy?" Hina says that he feels like she's intimidating him because she's a gold medallist but he replies that it's not like he wouldn't be happy, it's just that the kind of message she sends would make guys think. Saori thinks it means that she scares guys off completely, but for Hina, while it won't send him running in the opposite direction, if they had to meet again to have a meal or something, he might think about what she she wrote to him. Saori says that she also thinks it's embarrassing to send messages like, "Let's meet again."
• You're awful at giving up!
Saori says that she doesn't give up and she'll never give up once she likes someone. Subaru says that it's her athlete's sensibility but Hina says that this is different because giving up is essential (sometimes).
Subaru says, "You really don't give up, huh?"
Saori says that in high school, she confessed to the same guy six times. She liked a senpai and asked a guy that she got along with for advice, but in asking for advice from her male friend, she fell for him.
She thought that since they got along well and they had fun together that it would be okay to confess to him, so the first time she confessed, he apologized and said that he couldn't see her more than just a friend.
Ohkura looks so hurt by her story because he stands up and places a hand over his chest as though it pains him to hear her story of being rejected.
Yoko adds, "Hold on. This was just the first time. You confessed six times!"
Since Saori and the male friend she confessed to were in the same class, they were awkward with each other for a bit but thanks to other friends, they started talking again. During class, she passed him a note suggesting that they walk home together. She thought it would be a good chance to try again and sure enough, after she confessed, he apologized to her. She and the male friend were awkward but they became friendly again and when she confessed a third time, he apologized to her again.
The fourth time, she explains that he was in baseball and they were playing catch together.
Ryo's listening so intently but he's totally laughing while doing that. He understands feeling kimazui pretty well...
He was really kind to her and did all kinds of things for her so she thought it was okay, but Ohkura says that it's the guy's fault because the male friend was being too nice. The fourth time, all her friends cheered her on and told her that it would be okay, but it was the same as the other times where he ended up apologizing to her.
Saori skips the fifth time because it was the same as all the other ones and says that the final time was at their graduation ceremony. Because they'd all be going their separate ways, she thought it would be good to tell him since she didn't want to regret not doing anything. She already came this far, so she wanted to let him know and then they could part ways. She says it was like the Hana * Hana song, "Sayonara Daisuki na Hito" (see notes)
They all agree that she's really mentally strong and she says it's because of her way of thinking that even if she loses, she can get right up and keep going because she can't go back; there's only going forward.
Saori gets scolded often, I guess.
Hina says that it's because of her way of thinking (not the fact that she's positive but that she doesn't know when to stop) is why Sawa-san scolds her.
Hina says that if she's planning to go to Rio in 2016, it'll be pretty difficult to be in a relationship.
Hina laughing so hard at her determination.
Saori says that she can do it and she's so sure of herself that she says she's willing to take some time out of her schedule to accommodate a relationship. Ohkura and Subaru say that her afternoon nap is the only thing she can cut down on and Saori says that she'll remove the afternoon nap if necessary. Subaru says that she can't do that because it's important for her maintenance as a top athlete. Ohkura asks, "What if he tells you that he has to see you while you're in the middle of practice?" Saori laughs and looks like she's thinking about it, so Hina whacks her and Yoko exclaims that she was imagining that situation.
Segment 2 - I want to do this with Eito
Saori wants to see how they would cheer her up if she lost.
Subaru pats Ohkura on the thigh before he gets up to act out the scene.
Ohkura goes first and he freaks out saying, "Waa, what should I do!?" Yoko tells him that he's good at this and Ohkura asks, "What do you mean I'm good at this?"
Yoko replies, "You're good at taiko (tatsujin) and this!" but he means that Ohkura's good under pressure.
narrator: Yoshida Saori's official game winning streak has come to an end.
S: I lost.
O: Are you okay? No, I mean, you lost, but it's not like your life is over. I've lost before, so all you need to do is try your best. Don don kakka don kakka.
Hina stops him and when Ohkura sits down, they make him explain the don kakka don kakka part.
Ohkura says that he's experienced losing before and Yoko points out that he means at Shiwake, so the noises at the end were to make her feel better by having fun. They ask Saori what she thought and she says that it was fun.
Maru goes next and walks slowwwly over to her.
narrator goes.
S: I lost.
M: Right. It's difficult for people to keep winning all the time. Look at the history of athletes right now. There isn't a person who has won more than you. You understand that, not me. Please remember the glory and the smiles of the people who cheered you on, right?
(Ohkura: It's long)
M: Right. Let's stand.
(Yoko: Eh? They stood up)
[Maru takes her hand and leads her away]
Hina smacks Maru with the script and asks, "Where are you taking her?"
Maru says that while talking to her, he realized that it was impossible to cheer her up so he was going to bring her to see the coach. Ohkura calls out, "You leave it up to other people!"
Ryo is the next to go and instead of walking over and then talking to her, he calls out from the other side of the stage.
R: What happened, what happened?
S: I lost.
R: I know. I was watching, so I know. It's okay, there was no helping it. But, well, are you gonna quit?
Hina stops them there and the other members are surprised because he suggested quitting even though it's a sensitive topic to bring up if she's just lost.
Ryo explains, "No, no, no. I just wanted to talk to her like normal." Hina asks Saori what she thought about Ryo's approach and she says that (while it's not nice) the way he said things to her makes her feel like there's still more that she can do.
Ryo goes back to his seat and says that his heart was beating.
Saori says that prior to London, all kinds of people came to see her to cheer her on but none of those people called out to her and when she cried, all they did was pat her on the shoulders. She says that what those people did actually made her feel sadder.
Yoko asks, "That's why you want a guy who'll kindly hug you, right?" Saori agrees and Subaru says, "She says that right away. That kind of desire comes out right away."
Saori says that Ohkura was the best because his was the funniest. His prize is for her to carry him on her shoulders. Yoko says that Ohkura's the tallest out of the members and Ohkura says that he's about 70kg, but Saori says that her dad is 80kg, so it'll be fine.
Ohkura looks embarrassed and says, "She says it's okay, but this isn't like a present."
I love Ryo's form of kindness.
Ryo scolds him and says that it is a present and that he and the others want to to do that, too. Yoko asks him if he saw what happened when Saori won gold (she carried her father while he held the flag of Japan). Ohkura says, "No, no, if I'm up there, I don't know what to do."
UGGHHH, he looks really good in those pants.
Ohkura stands with his legs apart and he says that being carried on someone's shoulders is a bit embarrassing.
Yoko points to between Ohkura's legs and says, "That's because Yoshida-san is going to be coming from here." Ohkura tells him not to describe it in detail but of course, Yoko doesn't listen and further explains, "Ohkura's going to spread his legs and Yoshida-san will-" before Hina yells at him and tells him that he's noisy.
Subaru gets in on this and mimics how Ohkura will be carried while saying, "Don don kakka" but gets smacked by Hina.
Saori lifts him up easily and when Hina asks Ohkura how it feels, Ohkura says in a strained voice, "It's embarrassing."
Segment 3 - 3-ttack #1
Yamada bodybuilding poses.
This week's dish is gratin. The show visits Dotsubo Doll in Hyogo, a restaurant that specializes in gratin.
1. Curry rice gratin
Of course, shishou tries the dishes first.
Because he does this, Subaru says, "You realized that you're doing this kind of "Shishou's way" thing, huh?" Maru laughs and says that Subaru is being really aggressive and Hina says that it's because Subaru was the first generation. They all try the dish and everyone comments loudly how it's delicious but that it's not like the traditional curry they're used to eating.
2. Mentaiko and chicken gratin
Ohkura tries it first again and he says, "Ara, This is good. This is good." After everyone tries, Hina says that they've never had udon in gratin (gratin is usually only pasta like macaroni or rice as the starch base).
3. Yuzu peppered chicken and macaroni gratin
After his first bite, Ohkura says, "I get it. I could go for this yuzu kosho."
After eating, Yoko says that choosing is going to be difficult, so Ryo asks Saori what she thinks and she says #2 while shishou thinks it's #3.
Yay, hilarious CG. While the hearts float around, Saori in her wrestling kit comes out holding a heart-shaped box of chocolates.
Maru in a suit comes over to her but she throws him away. Hina, Yasu, Yoko and Subaru get thrown off screen one-by-one.
Ohkura shows up with Boyz II Men's "I'll Make Love to You" playing in the background and it looks like Saori is wavering since they bounce around from gratin to gratin until he flies away (Ohkura also says in the background, "Please don't use my face like that!").
Ryo shows up and Saori really shakes before she catches him and they both land on #2.
Having lost, Ohkura says that she's really perceptive as an athlete and he adds, "I lost to a gold medalist. Haaa… I'll work hard next week. That's all for 3-ttack #1."
Segment 4 - JuniMaga
This week's reporters are Hama-chan, Mukai and Kaneuchi.
The theme this week is "synapsology" for which they bring Okamoto-sensei to teach them. Okamoto-san says that synapsology is exercise that conditions your mind to work faster.
The first thing Okamoto-san gets them to do is play janken wherein they have to show their hand AFTER their opponent, a woman who helps Okamoto-san.
She throws scissors and only Mukai throws the same as her twice. They ask him why some people can't get it right and Okamoto-san explains that it's because you condition your mind to do things that it normally doesn't do.
The fun part of synapsology is that the moves are enjoyable, so the next task is to use one hand to pretend that they're chopping something with a knife and to use the opposite hand as if they're holding a frying pan and moving its contents around side-to-side.
It might seem easy at first, but when they hear a clap, they have to switch arms which Hama-chan can't do.
Following a compass movement, Okamoto-san will call out directions and the guys have to jump in that direction and then jump back to the centre. Again, Hama-chan gets it wrong the second time when they're asked to go South.
With their arms, they're supposed to show the time that Okamoto-san calls out: 3:45. Hama-chan can't get this one right, either.
For synapsology, the goal is not to do things that you can do; it's more important to use your body and mind in ways unfamiliar from your daily life.
With a small beanbag, if the person passing it to you calls out "flower," you have to catch it with your right hand and say the name of a flower. If s/he says "vegetable," you catch it with your left hand and say the name of a vegetable. Hama-chan calls out "flower" and passes it to Mukai who catches it with the wrong hand and says "flower" in English.
Kaneuchi does well when he gets vegetable, but he does say "tomato"… well, he still does better than Hama-chan who gets flower, catches it in the right hand but says, "Waas." This activity actually helps when, for example, you get stuck trying to remember a person's name even though it's at the tip of your tongue.
In the next exercise, they all count together until 16, lift the ball up at 16, and reverse direction but still keep count.
They make it until 16 but nobody except Okamoto-san's helper gets it right.
For the last exercise, it's a janken game, but the winner has to grab the rubber ball and hide the beanbag with it before the loser grabs the beanbag.
Mukai and Kaneuchi go first, but even though Mukai wins janken, he's not fast enough to smash the beanbag. Because Kaneuchi wins, he goes against Hama-chan who loses janken but wins because he grabs the beanbag very quickly.
They all agree that it's fun and Mukai says that he wouldn't get tired of it. They're finished for the week, so next week will be a new topic.
Ending
Hina asks her if she had fun and Saori said that she had a ton of fun.
He also asks her if her type has changed to which she says, "I like…everyone…" and laughs. Yoko and Subaru call her greedy and Hina says that they're cheering her on in the hopes that she'll do her best without injury.
Maru poses like a bodybuilder right before the end.
End notes
• Sayonara Daisuki na Hito
The song is basically about the singer saying goodbye to someone she loves and that it's tough, sad, but she won't forget him, she won't cry and that she'll love him forever.
I laughed SO much in this episode. I really like Saori, though. I've seen her on all kinds of variety shows and I really like how pure she is. Like, she laughs a lot and she's very sweet. Hina gets along really well with her (she's been on TORE! several times so I'm sure they've had a chance to talk there, too… he was also on her team last week). I've heard him call her Yosshi and Saori and they aren't afraid to touch each other, so that's pretty big evidence that they're friendly. Haha, I wonder if she'd ever switch from Massu to someone in K8. Hey, Massu is adorable, but he's got nothing on K8. If Saori did switch, I think she and Hina would match almost too well. They're fitness freaks, for one. But I don't think Hina is as nice a guy as she deserves because his way of thinking is a little too old-fashioned sometimes. Ryo...haha, I think he's interested in her because he really just wants to wrestle her... although, she'd take him down in a second because he's so skinny.
I seriously watched this episode four times before I even started to write the summary - it was just TOO funny. Still waiting on a better version, but I wanted to get it out of the way before I even attempt 8UPPERS (strangely, I already wrote up a bit of the Wink Killer disc...).
As always, DO NOT REPOST and DO NOT HOTLINK IMAGES.